KCPE exam results to be out in 14 days
The results of the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will be released within two weeks, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said yesterday.
Speaking in Nairobi after completion of the examination, Magoha said the marking of multiple choice exam papers had already started.
Only English Composition and Kiswahili Insha are marked manually. Markers are expected at centres starting tomorrow.
“The results will come in inside of 14 days. Marking has already started and going by the progress, we will spend similar time as last year. I thank everyone, even the politicians, for giving us free space to conduct our exams,” said the CS who spoke in Kibra, Nairobi.
The Minister said the exam proceeded well and all candidates, including those in Baringo County and other areas with security challenges, wrote the tests.
Magoha, however, disclosed that there were attempts by “a few people who wanted to confuse the candidates through early exposure of exams”.
He said a few cases of irregularities were being investigated.
“We have three cases to report – one of them took place yesterday morning in Northern part of the country, in Abrasa Academy in Marsabit where the centre manager took an image of the paper and dispatched it to others but has been arrested and is in custody,” said the CS.
A centre manager at Kadugili Primary in Turkana was also arrested on Tuesday after alleged attempts to facilitate cheating using a mobile phone.
Another cheating case is being investigated in Naisambu Primary School in Kiminini, Trans-Nzoia County.
“Exposing the exam early does not help. It is not exam leakage. Children are already regimented into classrooms and the security officers will make sure no one enters, including the centre managers,” said Magoha.
States high
As focus shifts to Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam next Monday, Magoha said the government is on high alert because the stakes are even higher.
“There are those who will want to do the same in the next exam and they are welcome. We are ready for them,” he warned.
According to the CS, the government has the means of knowing where a paper is interfered with.
On Tuesday, Magoha banned the use of mobile phones in the examination room saying the decision was taken after the Ministry found out that some centre managers were taking images of the papers moments to the start of the exams.
“As we have emphasized, nobody should enter the exam room with a cell phone and that includes the centre managers. All invigilators and supervisors must deposit their cellphones in the office before the start of the exams,” he said.
Magoha said all candidates who have just completed their KCPE exam will join secondary school within the next one and a half months.
Saying the government had constructed more than 4,000 classrooms in less than two months, Magoha said the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school will be achieved.
“We will ensure that the children are in class and we will go and get them from their homes. I hope the government that will follow will do the same. There is no time the government will shy away from education and that is why we spend 26 per cent of our budget on the sector,” he said.
New mothers
Meanwhile, the Coast region reported two cases of candidates giving birth during the KCPE exams.
Coast Regional Commissioner John Elungata said the two cases were reported in Kilifi and Mombasa counties.
In the Kilifi one, which occurred at Noor Primary, a private school, was reported yesterday.
He noted that there was no cause for alarm as the two cases were handled effectively.
“We had two, one in Kipevu Noor Primary, a private school, and the other one in Kilifi. Just two out of 109,000 candidates gave birth while doing their examinations,” he said, and attributed the few cases of pregnant candidates to the government’s crackdown on disco matanga in the region.
